爱哭鬼:格外混乱 (2015)

Cry Baby is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Melanie Martinez, released on August 14, 2015, through Atlantic Records. Following her appearance on The Voice in 2012, Martinez developed the album as a concept album, centered on a fictional character of the same name which she used to explore themes of emotional vulnerability, family conflict, and troubled relationships.

Cry Baby is a pop and alternative pop album that incorporates toy-like sounds, synth-driven production, and hip-hop-influenced beats. Martinez drew from imagery of childhood and domestic life throughout the record, reworking them into narratives addressing abandonment, abuse, romance, and emotional isolation. She directed and styled the album as well as all of its accompanying music videos, which together form a continuous visual storyline. The album was released in multiple formats, including vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital download, with physical editions featuring special packaging and an illustrated storybook written by Martinez. Three singles were issued from the album, including "Pity Party", "Soap", and "Sippy Cup". Martinez supported the album with the Cry Baby Tour, which ran from 2015 to 2016 and included shows across North America and Europe.

Cry Baby received generally positive reviews from critics, who commented on its cohesive concept and distinctive aesthetic. Commercially, the album debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 and later achieved multi-platinum certification in the United States. In 2020, the deluxe edition track "Play Date" gained renewed attention after going viral on social media platforms, and it led to the album's re-entry on the Billboard 200.

Background and production

In 2012, Martinez had participated in The Voice, during the period when she was in high school, and she started to gain popularity from there. In May 2014, she released her debut extended play, Dollhouse, which is composed of four tracks.

Martinez directed and styled Cry Baby, in addition to the music videos featured on the album. Martinez said she wanted to name the record Cry Baby, since she had been "teased as a kid for being super emotional" because she "took things way too seriously". Working on the album, Martinez stated that she had been "very emotional and super personal", and making the character Cry Baby assisted her to "deal with [her] own insecurities", saying that she could "throw it all onto Cry Baby" instead of herself.

Music and lyrics

Noted as a pop and alternative pop record, Cry Baby is a concept album where Martinez focuses on the inner conflicts and painful romance of family life. According to Popdust, the album adapts an assemblage of "toy-like sounds and textures", which frames a narrative centered on a young girl confronting themes such as "abandonment" ("Pity Party"), "bloody terror" ("Sippy Cup"), "exhilarating love" ("Training Wheels"), "crippling heartache" ("Soap" and "Alphabet Boy"), "glossy optimism" ("Mad Hatter"), and "emotional emptiness" ("Pacify Her"). Lyrically, Cry Baby is a "twisted blend of childhood naïveté, teenage angst, and adult apathy, all of which are sung over creepy synths and hard-hitting hip-hop beats".

Martinez draws on imagery of "youth and family" in several songs such as "Carousel", "Training Wheels", and "Milk and Cookies"; she reworks these songs into R&B- and electro-infused songs that address "familial strife, abuse, and romance gone wrong". She also constructs a world of "enchanted transgressions and human-consuming flaws", using these motifs to encourage listeners to "reconsider" their own experiences.

Release and promotion

Marketing and packaging

On July 17, 2015, the cover artwork for Cry Baby was revealed. Merchandise bundles also became available to pre-order on Martinez's website, with the digital pre-order available from July 24. In October, she visited Billboard studio to perform "Pity Party" and "Soap". In an interview with American TV channel Fuse in December, Martinez revealed that she would release music videos for all tracks of the album. The music video of the album's title track, "Cry Baby", was released on March 14, 2016. Directed by Martinez, the video surpassed 400,000 views by 2016. "Alphabet Boy"'s music video was revealed on June 2, and a double feature music video for "Tag, You're It" along with "Milk and Cookies" was released on August 23. The remaining music videos were "Pacify Her" (November 16, 2016), "Mrs. Potato Head" (December 1, 2016), and "Mad Hatter" (September 23, 2017), serving as the conclusion to the Cry Baby visual story.